Buy or wait?

[Sirtalksalot66]

Hello everyone! First off i'm new to the forums and am just getting into android development...

Anyway, I need to buy an android phone and have done my research and (for AT&T anyway) the Nexus one seems like the only real option currently...and it seems to be the dominate developer phone...

However, the Samsung Captivate is on the way sometime in the future, with no known release date...And i would like one sooner rather than later so i can have something to test my programs on.

I would wait for the captivate so i don't have to spend $529.99 on a new N1...but am worried that AT&T might cripple it like they did the Aria/backflip on AT&T...and i DONT want the touchwiz or any other interface. I want stock android 2.1/2.2... So what's my best option?

Wait for the captivate?
Or buy a N1?

Thanks a lot

 

[ap3604]

Wait for the captivate? Or buy a N1?

On Att? NEITHER!!!

 

[Sirtalksalot66]

On Att? NEITHER!!!

lets assume in stuck with AT&T for now.
If i wasn't id buy an evo 4g in a heartbeat.

 

[ap3604]

lets assume in stuck with AT&T for now.
If i wasn't id buy an evo 4g in a heartbeat.

Just was giving you a hard time brotha'. Sorry about that

Kidding aside though, I think I would go with the Galaxy S since you probably will save $329 upfront for the phone, have a 4' screen vs 3.7', as well as a Super Amoled screen.

I don't think Att can really cripple an android phone since anything they don't want you to have (i.e. tethering) you can get in the android market for free (pdanet app, or root).

 

[daffyduck]

Kidding aside though, I think I would go with the Galaxy S since you probably will save $329 upfront for the phone, have a 4' screen vs 3.7', as well as a Super Amoled screen.

but.....which is as plastic a phone as you can probably get!

I looked at one on demo in the UK and was put off by the build quality.

 

[ap3604]

but.....which is as plastic a phone as you can probably get!

I looked at one on demo in the UK and was put off by the build quality.

I'm sure not gonna argue with a Warner Brothers cast member

Do what the duck says!

 

[Snow_Fox]

Go with nexus one..

The problems start here.

A. you don't know when at&t will release anything.

B. Google updates nexus one for samsung whatever, google has to give update to samsung, samsung has to tweak for their phone, at&t, has to receive from samsung then tweak for their network. (LOL) so.. in two years.. when everyone else is on android 4.5 you will be enjoying froyo maybe.

C. If you had any reservations about rooting, you will have to pretty much stop worrying about them on at&t and root whatever you get. Otherwise your stuck with at&t bloatware. Sure you can download whatever app you want from the market.. However, the more features that come out in future updates.. the less likely you are to see them because of at&t.


D. 529$ is expensive.. but, if your already paying at least 200$ or probably 250$ by the time it is over.. your halfway there..... You may as well pay the full price, skip the bs and get a phone that you are most likely not going to get updates for. *Edit* I normally wouldn't use this kind of analogy.. but, imagine literally what you pay is what you get.. You pay 200$.. you recieve 2/5ths of a phone. You pay for nexus one.. You get the full experience..

Look at the aria.. out of pocket it is on par with the new iphone in terms of cost from at&t :/...

Sure in the future at&t may give a discount on some great android phone.... However, look at what they did to the e71x.. although the e71x was a great phone.. there is no logical reason for them to take away what they did..

I wouldn't have ever paid full price for a regular e71... but, the e71x by nokia was never meant to be a super phone.. Android phones are..

If its any consolation.. I will be buying an at&t n1 in the next couple of days *if* my parents agree to pay the 25$ a month data package..

A whole months rent on a phone x.x

 

[cigar3tte]

If you get a phone from AT&T, you can't even install apps outside the Market.

 

[ap3604]

529$ is expensive.. but, if your already paying at least 200$ or probably 250$ by the time it is over.. your halfway there..... You may as well pay the full price

By the time he purchases a Nexus One with tax and activation fee it would be over $600

I could understand doing this if he was paying less per month (like on T-Mo) but I would never pay $600 for a phone that I had to still pay $70/mo for...

BUT

I found a HUGE problem with the Galaxy S phone. Samsung were idiots and didn't include an LED camera flash. I don't know wtf they were thinking leaving such a basic feature off of a smartphone but I cannot support such obvious cost cutting practices

Hell if your cutting basic features Samsung you might as well cut the Bluetooth while your at it

Nexus One for me!

 

[Roze]

If price is an issue, you can get the N1 on Ebay. HTC seems pretty good with warranty (if you have the original receipt) from what some of the users here have said.

 

[techdaring]

You can give some choose to us and let's think about them. Compare. I using N1 for a while, more than four month and I feel it's good handset

 

[AnotherFatalEpic]

Nexus One. What better device to use for development other than the one that receives Android updates quickest?

 

[Snow_Fox]

By the time he purchases a Nexus One with tax and activation fee it would be over $600

I could understand doing this if he was paying less per month (like on T-Mo) but I would never pay $600 for a phone that I had to still pay $70/mo for...

BUT

I found a HUGE problem with the Galaxy S phone. Samsung were idiots and didn't include an LED camera flash. I don't know wtf they were thinking leaving such a basic feature off of a smartphone but I cannot support such obvious cost cutting practices

Hell if your cutting basic features Samsung you might as well cut the Bluetooth while your at it

Nexus One for me!

While the 600$ is insane to have to pay the same monthly fee...

With the captivate.. you don't get the LED camra..

And... I feel the need to point this out again.. Updates may be never happen....

On at&t they are always gunna be slow to update any phone they get.. and iphone is gunna take precedence...

*edit*

There shouldn't be an activation fee... its not an upgrade.. all you do is stick your sim card in..
580$ is a lot but, your not locked into the contract at least.. and you will get updates.... And we are still waiting on the dell aero.... which is a weak underpowered android phone.. announced three months ago..

why should we hope for a hummingbird just announced recently?

 

[Sirtalksalot66]

Yeah I've got an ATT 3g sim already so no activation should be needed...

 

[Mostly Harmless]

There is no activation fee when you get your N1 for At&t. One of the best part of this phone is that At&t has now become just a pipeline of data for me, I don't have to see their logo when my phone starts up (I like the lines that form the N1 logo), or the letters At&t written somewhere one my phone, or any non-sense programs that I don't need. The less instrusive At&t is the better my life is.

 

[Snow_Fox]

I agree with Mostly Harmless...

On the e71x I thought it was complete bull that you couldn't remove the programs they preinstalled.. I did find a way to "remove"them.. but, if you ever did a hard reset it would reload them..

I personally don't like any carrier being branded onto my phones..

I want a phone.. not a miniture advertising device..

And whats pretty much what any subsidized phone is gunna be.. possibly with stock android features removed/disabled in order to promote "at&t navigator"...

I understand the motivation of coorperations to make money.. but, lately.. its gotten crazy.. push too hard for money and you push customers away.

 

[lunatic59]

I want a phone.. not a miniture advertising device...

Which is supposed to be the "cost" of a subsidized phone, but if you look at the cost over the terms of the contract, subsidized phones always come out more expensive, so in effect you are paying them to advertise for them. I think it should work like the Google model ... every time the AT&T logo or name appears on a subsidized phone they should kick back $.05 or $.10 to that phone's account.

 

[dwd3885]

Which is supposed to be the "cost" of a subsidized phone, but if you look at the cost over the terms of the contract, subsidized phones always come out more expensive, so in effect you are paying them to advertise for them. I think it should work like the Google model ... every time the AT&T logo or name appears on a subsidized phone they should kick back $.05 or $.10 to that phone's account.

except you are still paying AT&T the same whether or not you get a subsidized iPhone or a full-priced Nexus One. So really, you're getting screwed. The only place you aren't getting screwed is by getting the N1 on T-Mobile and paying the Even More Plus plans which are month-to-month and cheaper than the contract plans.

 

[WiGgLz01]

get off of ATT and then you have the opportunity to select something on a walmart scale, or stay on att and then chose from a small shelf of things at a kmart

 

[Sirtalksalot66]

Since i don't have any current experience with android, i don't know much about rooting.. but if I root the CAPTIVATE, I will be able to run stock android, right? (just like a N1?)

 

[Roze]

Since i don't have any current experience with android, i don't know much about rooting.. but if I root the CAPTIVATE, I will be able to run stock android, right? (just like a N1?)

Yes, but you need to wait until one of the developers at XDA Forum ROOT the Samsung Captivate with the vanilla Android OS on it first. That will take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

 

[Snow_Fox]

I don't know how anxious you are to jump in.. but we are still waiting on dell aero.. well not really but.. "a few months" means absolutely nothing with at&t..

I am not trying to consistently down at&t or anything.. but, I really think they earned contempt on this particular issue...

 

[Drhyde]

except you are still paying AT&T the same whether or not you get a subsidized iPhone or a full-priced Nexus One. So really, you're getting screwed. The only place you aren't getting screwed is by getting the N1 on T-Mobile and paying the Even More Plus plans which are month-to-month and cheaper than the contract plans.

Also, don't forget about the $10 data plan trick with T-Mobile. If you must go with a phone for AT&T, go N1. Samsung has proven with the Behold II that they're a bad deal when it comes to upgrading their phones. Also, any other Android phone is likely to be crippled due to AT&T trying to keep them down to not piss off his holy godliness Steve Jobs and Apple. They wouldn't want Android to look more appealing than the iPhone.

 

[Sirtalksalot66]

Thanks for the input guys.

Ordered my N1 today. Excited!

 

[daffyduck]

Thanks for the input guys.

Ordered my N1 today. Excited!

Probably a good move, if the reports on HTC being about to switch from AMOLED to Super TFT screens on the Nexus One are correct!